


Secrets

by JCapasso



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:48:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23504884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCapasso/pseuds/JCapasso
Summary: Lucifer has a secret. He's in love with Ella Lopez. When she overhears him threatening her brother, things start to unravel and his secrets are in danger of becoming known.
Relationships: Ella Lopez/Lucifer Morningstar
Comments: 76
Kudos: 181





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one is probably going to be relatively short. But then so was Evil? so you never know lol.

There was a reason that Lucifer Morningstar never tried to sleep with Ella Lopez. The he never even attempted to use his power on her. This reason was tied to his deepest darkest secret that not even his trusted therapist was let in on. You see, the devil was irrevocably in love with the nerdy forensic scientist. It had started with a twinge of interest as they’d first met when she had mentioned that the devil might not be so bad, despite her choice of faith. Over time as he got to know her more, he realized just how special she was and before he knew it he was head over heels. He knew that he could never risk tainting such a pure soul with everything he was though, so he kept it to himself. 

Everyone seemed to think he was in love with his partner, Detective Chloe Decker. He didn’t correct them. It was one more level of protection for the true object of his affections. The detective was his partner and his friend. Perhaps even best friend, but that was as far as his feelings for her went. She would drive him insane inside a day if they were ever in a relationship, and it surprised him how his closest friends couldn’t see that. Yes, he cared for her a great deal, but it certainly wasn’t love. It didn’t hold a candle to how he felt for Ella. 

He had joked about sleeping with her once, partially to see what she would do and partially just because it was in his nature. He had known that she would never accept. Not at a crime scene on a dingy dirty bed in the backroom. If he had been serious, he would have invited her home after work. Even if she had accepted, he wouldn’t have gone through with it, so it surprised him how much it hurt when she dismissed the idea so completely. He hadn’t let it show though, and just went on with the case. That had been the first clue that something was different. It was hardly the first time he’d been turned down. Granted it hadn’t happened often, but it did happen from time to time. That was the first time it had bothered him though. 

It wasn’t until they were in Vegas together trying to figure out who was trying to kill his almost ex-wife that he realized what exactly was different. When she asked him about Candy, he never intended to go into so much detail and give her so much insight into his feelings. Finding out that his friendship with the detective was contrived by his father had really hit him hard. That and her obvious desire to push them beyond friendship made him more than a little paranoid. Ella didn’t judge him though, not that he expected her to. She never did. Then learning a bit more about her troubled past had him wanting to do anything and everything to help her and wishing that he’d been around back then to do so. Seeing her in that outfit while they were on stage was the last clue that he needed to realize exactly what he felt for her. 

He wasn’t nearly as clueless about emotions as people believed. He was a being of desire, for crying out loud. Emotions and desire went hand in hand. Just because he sometimes needed help figuring out how his own emotions fit into things and definitely needed help understanding his partner’s mystifying and often contradictory behaviors, didn’t mean he was clueless. Granted it had taken him a year to figure out how much he loved Ella, but it wasn’t exactly an emotion he had ever felt before. 

It was that feeling that led him to where he was now, sitting in a motel room waiting for a diamond thief to return for his stash. He stayed out of sight as Jay Lopez returned and waited until he had the diamonds in hand before he made himself known with a slow clap. “Ah. The slow hand clap. It never gets old does it?” he asked wryly. He planned to savor this, so he was starting off slowly. 

“Hey man,” Jay replied. “It’s not what it looks like.” 

Ella had been coming to see her brother before he left town and stopped outside the door when she heard Lucifer’s voice. “Save it, evil Lopez,” she heard him say and she stopped to listen, more than a little confused. “Clearly this wasn’t a one time deal. It seems you aren’t as virtuous as your sister would like to believe.” Ella covered her mouth to keep from making a sound in denial. She wanted to hear her brother’s answer. 

“Whatever man. You don’t know what it’s like making sure everyone’s looked after. It all falls on me,” Ella heard her brother say and tears started welling up in her eyes as the first cracks in her constant faith in him appeared. 

“Ah, so you felt entitled to stick your hand in the proverbial cookie jar because it took care of your family,” Lucifer accused. 

“Started small. Had to bail a brother out. Then Abuela needed surgery. Guess who they all came to? I didn’t choose this,” he tried to defend himself. Ella was resisting the urge to go in and beat him half to death. Like any of them would have chosen for him to turn to a life of crime? Like Abuelita would have wanted it that way?

“Well the Armani suit must help ease the pain,” she heard Lucifer reply and she couldn’t help but smirk. You tell him, Lucifer. 

“I take care of my family. So if I get a little bit too, so what? I’m not perfect,” Jay replied casually as Ella silently stewed outside the door. 

“But you like them to think that you are,” Lucifer drawled as he moved towards Jay, getting ready to start playing for real. “When really you’re no better than them.”

“You’re gonna tell Ella aren’t you?” Ella heard Jay ask and all she could think was ‘damn right he’s gonna tell me’. “Alright just…let me do it. She should hear it from me.” 

When she heard Lucifer say, “You’re not gonna tell her anything…and neither am I,” she almost yelled at them both, her anger causing her to miss a bit of the conversation, but then Lucifer was talking again. “Ms. Lopez puts a lot of faith in you and losing that faith would hurt her, and I won’t allow that to happen.” Ella’s eye went wide at that and her anger towards one of the men in the room faded as quickly as it had appeared to be replaced with confusion. 

“I’ll get my act together, I promise,” she heard Jay say and almost scoffed. 

“No need to promise, Jay Lopez, because I’ll be watching you and if you /ever/ disappoint her again…I’ll come for you,” Lucifer said as he flashed his eyes red ever so briefly. He had a lot of experience in inspiring fear to get results. He didn’t want to turn Ella’s brother into a sobbing wreck, so he had to use restraint. 

Ella heard Lucifer’s distinctive footsteps heading for the door that she was outside of and she had a split-second decision to make. She didn’t make it quickly enough though because she was only a few steps away when the door opened and Lucifer was looking at her searchingly, trying to find out how much she heard. 

Ella took a deep breath and decided this was as good a chance as any to do what she’d always wanted to do. They could always just call it a thank you and put it in the past. She took the few steps towards him, stood up on her toes, and pulled him into a hard kiss. 

Lucifer froze for a moment as her lips met his and then every ounce of control that he’d so carefully cultivated over the last year and a half completely fled from him and his arms wrapped around her and he kissed her back, deepening it and pouring every ounce of emotion he’d ever had into it. 

Ella was completely caught off guard once he started kissing her back and she now knew what was meant by a ‘toe-curling’ kiss. She had never been kissed like this before in her life and she was completely lost in it, never wanting it to end. Unfortunately, biology had a little something to say about that and when the need to breathe got too great, it ended. She had expected Lucifer to step away, but he didn’t. He rested his forehead against hers with his eyes closed, and she could see him trying to bring himself back under control, so she decided to help. “This doesn’t mean I’ll sleep with you,” she said in a breathless joking tone. 

That broke the spell Lucifer seemed to be under and he let her go and took a few steps back as he replied with a laugh. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Ms. Lopez,” he managed a smirk. “I assume by that greeting that you heard?” he motioned back towards the room that presumably Jay was still inside. When Ella nodded, Lucifer pulled the bag of diamonds out of his pocket. “Then this will come as no surprise to you. Since you are the one in charge of evidence, I put it in your capable hands. And no one will ever hear where I got them from me.” He would appreciate not having to go back to the precinct after that. He needed some space far away from here. 

“Thank you, Lucifer. Really,” she said hugging him tightly, which he tensely returned, before turning to leave. 

He watched her go before making his own escape, using his wings intentionally for the first time since he got them back by jumping out the window to avoid running into her outside.


	2. Chapter 2

The only thing keeping Ella’s feet figuratively on the ground was the knowledge of her brother’s betrayal. It was offsetting the high from that kiss enough to keep her head on straight. It didn’t stop her from bringing her fingers to her lips more than once during her drive to the station and then home. It wasn’t until the next morning that it dawned on her that something had been off there. As she sat down with her coffee she turned it over and over in her mind before it dawned on her. He’d been far more affected by that then made sense. She’d seen him in far more compromising positions at Lux and he’d been completely put together, but that kiss had him almost coming apart at the seams. Why?

The first thing that popped into her mind was the idea that he could have feelings for her, but she quickly shoved that away. It was wishful thinking at it’s finest. It was no secret that she thought Lucifer was hot. She had no hope of hiding that, but no one else knew how much more than that it was. There wasn’t any point. Lucifer wasn’t the relationships, feelings, and settling down type, and even if he was he could have his pick of any woman in the city, and probably half the men. Heck, he could probably even get Chloe if he actually set his mind to it. 

Contrary to popular belief around the precinct, she knew that Lucifer didn’t care about Chloe like that. She was very good at reading people, and she saw that at most Chloe was a fascination to him. They were friends and partners and she intrigued him, but that’s all it was. She would be surprised if Lucifer had ever felt more than a passing infatuation for anyone. That wasn’t to say he was a bad guy. Just the opposite, in fact. He was honest and thoughtful and kind, if a little sarcastic and snarky sometimes. He regularly bought coffee and pastries for everyone at the station, including her and always knew how she liked it. He never made promises he couldn’t keep and most importantly he never lied. Even when he probably should. 

She didn’t take the whole method acting thing as a lie of course. It was a persona, and she’d managed to see behind it enough to see the real him, and that was what drew her to him the most. Far more than the rich playboy narcissist persona, she loved the one underneath. The one who craved acceptance and who cared so much it hurt. She couldn’t imagine what he’d been through to cause him to be like that. There had been a couple off-hand comments from Chloe that led her to believe that he’d had an abusive childhood, and she wondered if that was it. She knew she’d probably never get a chance to find out though. He was too closed off for anyone to get through. Even her. She wanted to though. She wanted nothing more than to be the one to bring him out of his shell. 

She realized how much her thoughts had wandered as she snapped herself out of it to get ready for work. It didn’t take her long to realize that he was avoiding her unless it was strictly work related and that hurt a bit, but got her more curious as to why. It wasn’t like him to let a little thing like a kiss between friends affect him, and she doubted that he was mad at her for kissing him like that. He’d seemed to enjoy it. Even more than she did actually, which was strange enough. She decided to let him avoid her for now while she was trying to figure him out. 

When Lucifer left the hotel, he headed straight home and took a cold shower, resisting the urge to bang his head on the wall. Despite how horrible of an idea it had been, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. He knew he could never have any more, but that one moment had been like an oasis in the middle of the harshest desert. No matter how much harder it made it to go on as usual, it had still been worth it. He would have to be more careful for a while though and resolved to keep things strictly professional between himself and Ella for a while. Just until he could shore up his defenses again. 

Instead he turned his mind to his ongoing problem and threw himself into his quest to free Cain from his mark, but over the next couple months, nothing he tried worked. Eventually he had no choice but to give up. He was more than a little irritated when Cain decided that the detective was the key to breaking the curse after all and started dating her. He hated seeing her used like that and tried everything he could to break them up, making everyone think even more that he had feelings for Chloe, especially when he went to beat the crap out of Cain after he broke Chloe’s heart. 

Through it all though, he couldn’t get his mind off of Ella and that kiss. Finally, he decided that he had to talk to someone or he was going to crack. Building his walls back up wasn’t working as well as he’d hoped and he’d noticed Ella looking at him strangely more than once which made him more than a little nervous. There was only one person he felt safe enough to talk to, and even then it was just because she was under confidentiality oaths. He made his way to Linda’s office and bribed the person waiting with five hundred dollars to go elsewhere and reschedule, which they guy gladly took. They always did. 

It was only ten minutes before the person inside came out and Lucifer went in. “Lucifer,” Linda said in surprise. “I’d love to talk but I have another appointment…” she trailed off at the smirk on Lucifer’s face. “I don’t do I?” 

“Of course you do, doctor,” Lucifer said cheerfully as he sat on the couch. “Me.” 

“Lucifer what have I told you about bribing my other patients?” she said wearily. 

“Only to do it when there’s an emergency and this is an emergency,” he told her. 

She looked at him serious. “What is it? Another goddess running amock? Demons loose in LA? Is someone after me?” she asked worriedly. 

“Oh no. Nothing nearly so droll. I’m having a bit of a crisis,” Lucifer waved off her concern. 

Linda huffed in irritation but decided not to attempt to correct Lucifer’s understanding of the word emergency. That horse was long dead. “What’s wrong?” she asked. 

“How do I stop myself from feeling or at least keep the feelings locked away?” he asked. 

Linda had a strange sense of de ja vu. She was pretty sure they’d had a very similar conversation before but then he’d been trying to do the opposite and channel those feelings. Her answer here wasn’t any different though. “Is this about Chloe?” she asked.

Lucifer sighed and decided it was time to set the record straight. “No. It’s not. The detective and I are partners and friends and that’s all. I just let everyone think otherwise because it was easier.” 

Linda scrutinized him for a moment. “But what about all that stuff with making a deal with your dad and protecting her from your brother. You even died for her,” Linda pointed out confused. 

“I will admit that I was rather confused at first as to the depth of my affections for her, having never felt anything similar before, but that was resolved a long time ago. As far as protecting her from my brother and going to hell to get the antidote for the poison, as I said. She is my partner and my friend. I would do no less for you or anyone else I care about.” 

“Okay…but there is someone that you do love,” she guessed, knowing that while he may mislead her, he never lied and that was a very clear denial. She could tell by his eyes and demeanor that he wasn’t lying to himself this time either, so she just reordered her thoughts and moved on. 

“Obviously. That’s why I’m here,” Lucifer said impatiently. 

“Okay, so does she know how you feel?” Linda asked. 

“No and she’s never going to if I have anything to say about it,” Lucifer said with a note of finality. “There’s a reason I’ve been keeping it to myself.” 

“Okay, so what’s changed?” 

“She kissed me. A few months ago. It was to thank me for standing up for her, but I still can’t get it out of my head. It’s far too distracting and it’s interfering with our friendship.” 

“So why don’t you just tell her how you feel? She might surprise you,” she said, relieved that he wasn’t talking about her. She didn’t think he felt that way about her, but with as cryptic as he was being it had been a possibility. 

“Because I can’t,” he said plaintively. 

“Why? What are you so afraid of?” she asked pointedly. She knew it wasn’t rejection. It could be, but there seemed to be more to it than that. 

“Of ruining her,” he said, getting up and running his hands through his hair. “She has this pure innocent spirit. She’s like pure sunshine and I’m…I’m me, doctor. The devil.” 

Linda took a moment to try and figure out what to say to that. “So she doesn’t get a choice? You know better, so you get to make that choice for both of you?” She wanted to get him thinking at least. 

“Listen, doctor. Are you going to help me get this thing locked away or not?” he asked impatiently. 

“No, Lucifer. I’m not. Because it can’t be done. Feelings aren’t something that you can just keep tucked away somewhere only to take out when you need them. They are a part of you,” she tried to explain. 

“Fine. I’ll figure it out on my own,” he said as he walked out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the episode with Azrael was a bonus episode and not technically in any kind of order I decided to put it where I wanted and have it just after the broken engagement and before all hell broke loose.

Ella had continued watching Lucifer and trying to figure him out over the last few months, but was no closer to an answer to her many questions. At least not an answer she could accept. She was starting to come to the conclusion that he really did have feelings for her. Especially after she decided to test the theory by standing closer to him and casually brushing against him every so often. She was still trying to decide what, if anything, to do about it, when an old friend stopped by. She was as irritated as she was happy though since this friend happened to be a ghost that no one else could see. The last time she’d been around Ella had nearly been committed. 

Ella let her help with the case though and she even saved her life. She let herself be talked into letting Chloe in on the secret and was glad when she seemed to believe her. Once it was over, Rae-Rae asked for one last girl talk before she left, and Ella sighed and agreed. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about Lucifer after all. She managed to get out the whole story of the kiss and everything after it, including the recent conclusions that she’d come to. Or at least suspected. It wasn’t until the end that she mentioned who it was, and she could swear that as soon as she said the name Lucifer that Rae-Rae’s eyes widened in shock and she tensed up. Of course, that could just be a reaction to the name of the devil and her friend had nothing else to say on the subject, so she let it drop. She had to admit that talking about it made her feel better at least, not that she had any more of an idea what to do about it. 

Lucifer quickly put the conversation with the doctor out of his mind and just got back to work. When he found out that the detective had agreed to marry Cain his mood got even worse. He didn’t really blame her. The man had been alive for thousands of years. He knew how to get what he wanted. The fact that he was going after someone on Lucifer’s personal protection list though was what pissed him off. Learning that Cain really did love her was the only thing that stayed his hand from attempting to interfere, though it didn’t make him feel much better. It didn’t last long though and he heard the rumors like everyone else that she had broken off the engagement because she was in love him. He hoped they were wrong. He thought all that was sorted a year ago. 

Lucifer was almost managing to get back to normal when Ella bade him goodbye with the phrase ‘smell you later,’ and he did a double take. He hadn’t heard that in so long…”Uh, Ms. Lopez?” When she turned back around he asked, “Since when do you use that particular turn of phrase ‘smell you later’. I’ve never heard you say that before.” 

“Oh, it’s just something my friend Rae-Rae says,” she said with a smile and bounded off, completely oblivious to the turmoil she was leaving Lucifer in. 

Lucifer rushed home and looked around as he was getting out of the elevator. “I know you’re here…come on, time to show yourself,” he almost taunted as he walked into the room looking for anything out of place. He turned when he heard the rustle of wings. “Well…Hello Azrael,” he said smugly. After a bit of conversation and recriminations, he got to the main thing he wanted to know. “Why are you here now, and how does Ms. Lopez know of you?” 

“Oh. That,” Azrael said sheepishly. 

“Oh don’t worry. I’m not Dad. I have no qualms about you interacting with humans,” he said as he headed over to the couch. “Well come on,” he said, realizing it was time for some brother sister time and he took his normal pose when he was, in her words, ‘listening to her drone on and on’. He didn’t tell her that it had meant as much to him as it had to her. 

“Well, Ella was in a gnarly car wreck when she was young and I showed up to, you know, do my angel of death thing…”

“But what? False alarm?” Lucifer asked, trying not to show how relieved he was at that idea. 

“It happens,” Azrael told him. “This time…I don’t know…I-I-I didn’t want to leave. I mean, you know Ella. There’s just something about her. She’s just so positive. She makes you feel like…” she trailed off, seeming like she was searching for words, but wanting to see what Lucifer filled in. 

“Good about yourself,” he said knowingly. 

She grinned. “Yeah. Exactly. I only ever get to talk to dead humans. I mean, they’re so morose. Anyway, whenever I was in the neighborhood I would stop by and see how she was doing and we became friends, but apparently, it’s weird if people talk to invisible angels, so I told her I was a ghost, which didn’t help, so…I sent her to be out here with you.” 

“You did what?!” Lucifer asked as he got up. “First Dad puts the detective here and now you’re trying to manipulate me with Ms. Lopez? Why does everyone think I need help meeting women?!” He snapped as he went to refill his drink. 

“Relax. I didn’t do it for you. I did it for her,” she told him. “Well both of you, I guess. See, since I could be with her and I couldn’t be with you, I thought, at least, two of my favorite people could be together.”

Lucifer lost his anger at that. That was very much like his sister. “And that’s the only reason that you’re here?” he asked to be sure. 

“It was. Until I talked to Ella,” Azrael told him. 

“Oh?” Lucifer asked curiously. “And what did Ms. Lopez have to say that changed that?” 

“Are you in love with her?” Azrael answered him with a question. 

Lucifer almost dropped his drink before he caught himself and turned around. “Whatever would give you that idea?” he asked. 

“Come on, Lu. I know your avoidance maneuvers by now. If you weren’t you would have just said so. Which leads me to the question, why don’t you tell her?” 

“Because in case you’ve forgotten, Azrael, I’m the devil,” he said tensely. “I can’t be with her without her knowing that and to tell her that will ruin all that positivity and light she exudes, and I can’t…I WON’T do that.” 

“You know, for someone who hates being manipulated so much you sure are quick to do it to others,” she told him, already taking a step back, knowing this wasn’t going to end well. 

“What did you say?” he spun around, eyes flashing red. 

Azrael stood her ground now that she was out of arm’s reach. She knew that he wouldn’t hurt her. “You heard me. Withholding information to force her into a choice she might not make otherwise is pretty much the definition of manipulation, Lu. She has a right to make her own choices just like you do.” 

“So you would allow me to ruin everything that makes her special just to give her a choice that we both already know the answer to?” he scoffed. 

“If you really think that anything you can do or say will ruin all that, then you don’t know her as well as you think. And don’t presume to know what she would choose either. She’s a very surprising human sometimes,” she told him. “Trust me. I’ve known her most of her life. Just think about it, Lu,” she told him before she disappeared. 

Lucifer finished off his drink before he decided to go check on Ella. He hadn’t decided what, if anything, to do, but he could at least be her friend, as he made clear when he got there. “I was just wondering how everything was going with my good friend Ms. Lopez, since I heard you’ll be staying with us a while longer.” Before tonight he hadn’t been sure if he would have rather her stay or go, but now he was glad that she was staying. He even, for the first time, reached out and put a hand on her shoulder as he said, “Excellent choice by the way.” He had never been one for initiating physical contact before, and even found himself shifting on his feet awkwardly as he asked her about her work. 

Ella smiled and started to babble about what she was working on before she stopped herself. “I’m sorry. You’re probably just being polite.”

“No, not at all. Please. Tell me more. I’m all ears,” he said with a smile as he sat down. As she started talking he found most of the tension of the day flowing out of him as she was having the same effect she always had. He found his eyes darting between her eyes, her hands, and her lips, desperately wanting to kiss her again, but knowing that he couldn’t. Not yet at least. Not until he’d thought this through and knew that he wasn’t just taking Azrael’s words too hard.


	4. Chapter 4

Lucifer was rather busy for the next little while trying to get the detective over her breakup and get things back to normal, or at least as close to normal as they would get. Soon enough though, all hell broke loose when Cain killed Charlotte. They had to continue working the case as normal and following the leads he gave them while at the same time trying to prove that he was the one behind it. At least the detective believed him now that Pierce/Cain was a bad guy. Needless to say, busy was an understatement and he had no time to think or act on anything for a while. Once things finally came to a head and he was forced to kill Cain and got his devil face back, the detective saw him and then took off. 

When he didn’t see her for a few days and learned that she’d left the country with her daughter, he knew that answered his question. Telling Ella would be a horrible idea. That resolve lasted about a week until she came looking for him and found him in the penthouse, drowning his sorrows in a bottle of scotch. “Hey, still haven’t heard from Chloe yet huh?” she asked as she sat across from him. 

“No, and I don’t think I’m going to,” he told her, unable to even look at her. 

“Why not?” Ella asked curiously. She still had no idea what happened there, but she knew it was something big. “What happened?” 

“She found out some things about me…things that scared her…that would scare anyone…and she ran away,” he told her. 

“What kind of things?” Ella asked sympathetically, reaching a hand to his knee. She doubted he would tell her, but she would still try. 

Lucifer scoffed. “Why, so I can break you too? Not happening.”

She scooted closer. “I won’t break, Lucifer. I’m stronger than you think. No matter what secrets you have, I’m not going anywhere.” 

“You say that now…” 

“And I mean it,” she said firmly. “How about a little wager?” she smirked. “You give up your secrets and if I run away then…” she trailed off trying to think of something she might have that would be of some value to him. “Then you can have all my secrets to counting cards at casinos,” she decided on. “And if I don’t run, and I won’t, then you owe me a date.” 

“Pardon?” Lucifer snapped his head up to look at her. 

“You heard me,” Ella said forcing a nonchalant smile on her face to not show how nervous she was. 

“You truly think that the ability to make some quick money is worth more to me than your friendship?” he asked incredulously. 

Ella shrugged. “Not really, but I don’t have anything else to offer.” She looked at him seriously and put her hand on his arm. “It won’t matter anyway, because I won’t run away. Trust me, Lucifer. Please.” 

Lucifer could feel his heart racing as he was actually considering it. Coming clean and showing her his devil face. She seemed so sincere and she’d asked for his trust. How could he not give it? Could he take the risk though? He considered it for a moment and decided that since they were in a controlled environment this time, worst case scenario, he could knock her out and then convince her that she was hallucinating it all. “Okay. I do trust you, Ms. Lopez. This is just…bigger than you could imagine.”

“I can take it,” she assured him. 

“Okay, here goes. I really am the devil,” he said earnestly. Before she could open her mouth to protest, his features faded into his devil face and she gasped, looking him over as if trying to see if it was real. When she reached out a hand to touch his face, he allowed it, but couldn’t help but wince as she made contact. 

Ella snatched her hand back. “I’m sorry. Does it hurt?” she asked worriedly. 

He shook his head. “No. It’s fine. It’s just…no one’s ever touched me…like this, before,” he told her. 

She reached back out to run her fingers over the scars and burns as she said, “Not even demons? If demons are actually real that is…”

“No,” Lucifer said, allowing her all the time she needed to make sure that this was real and not some mask he was wearing or optical illusion. “Usually the only time I take this form is when I’ve lost my temper and then they’re usually scrambling away from me lest I take out my ire on them.” Ella laughed at that, and Lucifer found himself getting more and more uncomfortable with her searching touch. “Are you convinced that it’s real yet?” he asked. 

Ella bit her lip nervously as she considered what she was about to do, and her nerves had nothing to do with the current face he was wearing and everything to do with the action itself. “I’ve known it was real,” she told him as she leaned forward and kissed him. 

Lucifer froze at the feel of her lips and felt as if all the breath was sucked from his lungs. He didn’t unfreeze until he felt her attempting to deepen the kiss, and he yanked her out of her seat and into his lap, holding her tightly as he kissed her passionately. 

Ella sank into the kiss, much as she had last time when he was wearing a different face, and she poured all her feelings for him into it. Devil or not, he was still Lucifer. The same guy she’d known all along. The same guy she’d fallen in love with. It was a long moment before she felt his face changing and she pulled away with a chuckle. When she saw the hurt look start to appear in his eyes, she said, “Sorry. It’s just…that felt weird…your facing changing while I was kissing you,” she explained. 

He had mostly done that to be absolutely sure that she knew it was real and not some trick. He had to be absolutely sure if he was going to let himself do this and how could he not if it was real. If she really was here. If she really did care. “You’re still here,” he said in awe. 

“I told you I would be,” she said with a smirk. “And I do believe you owe me a date now.” 

Lucifer laughed happily. “Darling, I’ll give you the rest of your life if you want it.” 

Ella grinned and leaned her head against his, still straddling his lap. “Be careful or I might just take you up on that.” 

Lucifer responded by pulling her into another kiss and when he heard the elevator a moment later, he pulled his lips away, not even looking back and called out, “Sorry, this ride is closed.” 

Ella giggled and buried her head against his neck, partially because she could see who came in and partially out of happiness at the implication that was choosing her over anyone else that could possibly be. 

“That’s the last image I needed in my head, Luci, thank you,” Amenadiel said disgruntled. 

“So sorry, brother, but I’m rather busy, so unless the building is on fire or someone’s dying…” he said nuzzling Ella’s cheek and still not looking back. 

“I just wanted to let you know that I’ve got my wings back and I took Charlotte to heaven and I’ll be spending at least a few weeks there…”

“Yes, yes. I got it. Enjoy the silver city. Send me a postcard,” Lucifer said dismissively and heard the elevator doors again a moment later. 

Ella laughed as he left. “Your brother calls you Luci?” 

“Don’t get any ideas,” he muttered. 

“Aww,” she pouted. “What about Luc? Or Lu?” 

“Lu is acceptable,” he told her, planning to use that as a jumping off point to tell her about Azrael, but her next words blew that thought out of his head. 

“Or Schnookums?” She laughed at the look of horror on his face. 

“I will accept dear, darling, honey, or some variation of those, but not schnookums or muffin, or anything similar. Acceptable?” he tried to bargain. 

“Yes dear,” she said, still laughing. 

“Good, now there’s something else you should probably know,” he told her. 

“What’s that?” she asked nibbling on his neck and enjoying the effect she could feel it having on him. 

“Well…it’s about…” he stammered, but found that he couldn’t bring himself to talk about or even think about his sister at the moment. “It can wait,” he decided. “I really am trying to control myself here, but if you keep doing that while sitting in my lap like this…” he said breathlessly as she found a sensitive spot on his neck. 

“Control is very overrated, I think,” she whispered in his ear as she pulled the lobe in her teeth. That was all the permission he needed.


	5. Chapter 5

Lucifer stood up, lifting her with him and her legs wrapped around his waist as his lips found hers again. On the way to the bedroom, they hit a wall and she used the leverage to press herself tighter against his erection and he moaned into the kiss, rolling his hips forward. Her hands moved to start unbuttoning his shirt. He unwrapped her from his arms long enough to allow her to push all of his upper layers off together before pulling her away from the wall and stripping her shirt off over her head. He continued on to the bedroom, removing her bra on the way, giving another moan at the feel of her bare skin against his. 

Once he was laying over top of her in bed, it dawned on him that this wasn’t just some average encounter, and he didn’t want to treat it like that, so he forced himself to slow down. He didn’t want to play any games, do any teasing, or showing off. He wanted this to be a real joining. Something meaningful and deep. Judging by the way his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest and his hands were shaking, his body had been ahead of him in that realization. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this affected by the idea of sex. 

Ella caught up to the change too as his kisses turned less dirty and more sweet while his hands trailing over her body started moving slower and softer. The change made her breath hitch as the feelings that she’d spent so long suppressing washed over her. If it hadn’t been for the fact that he seemed to be exactly on the same page, she might have rethought this step, but he wasn’t treating her like a conquest. He was treating her like a lover and this was everything she’d been dreaming about for almost two years. Ella’s hands moved to the front of his pants, prompting him to do the same and she was surprised to feel his hands shaking as badly as hers. That was the last proof she needed that this meant more to him than anything before. 

Lucifer moved off of her long enough to divest them both of the remainder of their clothes and stood there for a few seconds looking at her and allowing her to look at him before he knelt at the edge of the bed and placed his hands gently on her knees and she freely unfolded for him as he slid slowly up her body. He paused when he felt his erection at her entrance, giving her a chance to stop him, but she just squirmed underneath him and breathed out, “Lucifer please.”

He certainly wasn’t going to deny her and he slid slowly inside her with a moan of, “Oh…Ella…” She clutched at his back as he filled her more fully than she’d ever felt before and she arched up off the bed. He kissed her again soft and deep as he slowly began to move, letting his hands trail reverently over every inch of skin he could reach. Ella’s hands certainly weren’t still either as they roamed up through his hair, down over his shoulders, lingering on his arms that were tense from holding the bulk of his weight off of her. She moved her hands down his firm chest and around his sides to his back as his lips moved up her jaw and to her neck. 

It was a long while before he couldn’t resist speeding up his thrusts and he felt the tightening in his stomach. Judging by Ella’s reaction she was right there with him and as he fell over the edge, releasing himself inside her, he cried her name as he felt her walls contracting around him with her own orgasm, milking even more from him. His thrusts stuttered as they both rode out the wave, panting for breath.

When he finally stilled over her, he didn’t move away, resting his forehead against hers and just drinking in the moment. The words, “I love you,” fell from his lips almost completely against his will, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. 

As soon as she heard what he said, she sucked in a sharp breath and in the few seconds before she responded, giving him a chance to take it back, the main thought in her mind was that Lucifer doesn’t lie. Ever. Not even in the heat of the moment or the throes of passion. He doesn’t lie. “I love you, Lucifer,” she breathed out in barely a whisper and felt him relax and let out a breath at her response. 

“I know,” he said softly. 

Ella blinked. And blinked again. Then she smacked him lightly on the arm. “Did you just Han Solo me?” she asked incredulously. 

He laughed uproariously and rolled to the side off her, which was followed by a series of light smacks to his arms again for laughing. “At least…I said…I love you…first,” he panted out through his laughter. 

Ella stopped smacking him and huffed as she plastered herself against his side. “There is that,” she admitted, laying her head on his chest and trailing her hand over his chest and stomach. 

Lucifer laid there happily running his hand up and down her back and side. It was a few minutes before he asked, “You know how I knew?” 

“Hmm?” she asked, not sure what he was talking about. 

“No one could kiss me like that…so…so sincerely…with that face…unless there were real feelings there,” he said, still beyond touched by that. 

Ella realized what he was talking about and lifted her head to look at him as her hand moved to his cheek. “No matter what face you’re wearing, you’re still you, Lucifer.” 

He smiled brightly and kissed her gently. “And that’s part of the reason I love you,” he told her. 

Ella beamed and laid her head back down, pressing a kiss to his chest. “So does this mean that we’re…um…

“Together exclusively?” he finished for her. “I would very much like it to mean that.”

“So would I,” she sighed happily. 

“Then it’s settled,” he kissed her head. “Just know that I’ve never done the whole boyfriend thing before so you’ll have to tell me if I’m screwing something up.”

She chuckled and nodded against his chest. “Okay, but I’ve never been with the devil before either so that goes both ways,” she joked. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to accidentally ruin your rep or anything.” 

He laughed. “I don’t have anyone on Earth I care to hide from, darling so, to use your words, you do you.” 

“But you do have a rep in hell?” she asked, trying to segue into the q and a portion of the evening seamlessly. “If you don’t mind telling me, that is,” she added. 

“I don’t mind telling you anything, Ella love,” he said. “I’m happy to answer any and all questions you may have. Yes I have a reputation that I have to hold onto in Hell. If the demons think I’m weak in any way then it could cause a rebellion.”

“But there are no demons on Earth?” she asked. 

“Just Maze, but she can be trusted,” he told her. “Despite the fact that she just turned on me and tried to kill me,” he said with a chuckle. 

“But she can be trusted?” Ella asked incredulously. 

“That’s just Maze,” he said with a shrug. “She gets a bee in her bonnet and goes off on a rampage from time to time. She’ll come back and we’ll be back to normal in no time.”

“Is that a demon thing?” she asked. 

“Somewhat. It’s rather the same for angels too though. When you live for eternity grudges come and go much easier than for humans. I can’t tell you how many times Amenadiel’s tried to kill me.” 

Ella just shook her head and laughed at the insanity of it all. “Poor misunderstood devil,” she teased. 

“I know! I’m glad someone agrees with me finally,” he joked. 

Ella laughed before abruptly stopping. “Oh crap.”

“What’s wrong?” Lucifer asked concerned. 

“I just realized…if we got married…God would be my father in law,” she said in shock. As soon as the words came from her mouth though, she realized that she’d just said the M word way too soon. Before she could freak out about him bolting though he laughed. 

“Yes. He would. But I wouldn’t expect an invitation to the family reunions.”

“Right. Because you’re the devil. You guys are on the outs,” she said with a nod, lifting her head up to look at him curiously. 

“What?” he asked, noticing her scrutiny. 

“You’re not running,” she said. 

“Why would I be running?” Lucifer asked confused. 

“Because I mentioned marriage…I didn’t mean it for now though, just someday, maybe, if you wanted to, like far in the future…”

She was cut off again by a chuckle. “No, I didn’t run from the subject nor will I ever. You see, darling, all we get is your mortal life and when you’ve lived as long as I have that’s barely more than a blink of an eye and I don’t want to waste a moment of it. When you’re ready, I’ll be ready.” 

“Then there’s no way for us to be together forever?” she asked sadly. 

Lucifer tilted her head up to look at him and gave her a short kiss. “/That/ we can leave discussion of for later,” he told her, trying not to let it panic him. It was a reasonable question after all. 

“Right. Sorry,” she giggled, realizing what that meant, but still glad that he didn’t run, and she quickly changed the subject.


	6. Chapter 6

“How can you switch so easily from calling me ‘Ms. Lopez’ all the time to using my name and other endearments now?” she asked curiously. She would expect some hesitation when suddenly changing address. 

Lucifer smiled sheepishly as he ran a hand through her hair. “Because I’ve always called you those things in my head. Calling you Ms. Lopez out loud was my way of keeping myself reminded that you weren’t for me.”

She smacked him lightly on the chest. “Idiot,” she huffed. “Why couldn’t I be for you?” 

“Because I was afraid,” he admitted. “Not of my feelings or anything. Not completely anyway,” he amended. “But I was afraid of dimming that spark in you.”

“You really thought I would react so badly? Even before Chloe?” she asked as she looked up at him concern. 

“I’m the devil, Ella,” he said pointedly. “Most people would react badly.”

“I figured you’d know that I’m not most people,” she grumbled. 

“I do, darling. Believe me. If nothing else the fact that you so easily melted my icy heart would have been a clue. But that didn’t necessarily mean that you could accept it. Not without losing something of yourself. And I knew that the only way for us to have something real was for you to know all of me. I couldn’t take that risk.”

“But you did now. Even after Chloe,” she said leadingly. 

“Yes. You asked me to trust you. That and Dr. Linda and Rae-Rae berating me for keeping it from you,” he chuckled. 

“Wait, Rae-Rae?!” Ella asked, propping herself up on her elbow. 

“Oh. Right. We got a little sidetracked before I mentioned that,” he shrugged. “Yes, your friend Rae-Rae is not, in fact, a ghost. She’s actually my little sister Azrael. The angel of death.” 

“Why would she lie to me?” Ella asked, hurt. 

“Because, in her words, it’s weird if people talk to invisible angels.”

“Like invisible ghosts is any better,” Ella mumbled. 

Lucifer laughed. “Yes, apparently she came to realize that in time. You have to understand though, that all she normally talks to are what you would call ghosts.”

Ella nodded and laid back down. “I guess that makes sense,” she said. “How long have you known that she and I were friends?” she asked, trying to keep the accusation out of her voice. 

“Only a couple weeks. She abandoned me once I was thrown into hell just like everyone else, so we haven’t exactly kept in touch.”

“That’s why you were so surprised when I said ‘smell you later’,” she realized. 

“Yes. It rather brought back a great deal of memories for me,” Lucifer said with a sad smile. 

“So she abandoned you?” Ella asked. “How could she do that?” The Rae-Rae she knew was so accepting and open. She wouldn’t abandon her own brother when he needed her the most. 

“We had quite the talk about that when I realized that she was around,” Lucifer huffed a laugh. “Supposedly she never meant to abandon me. She just ‘got busy’ and once so much time had passed it was too weird to reach out. Her words, not mine.” 

Ella hissed in irritation. “Well maybe you can accept that, but I can’t.” When she closed her eyes and opened her mouth to call Rae-Rae, she suddenly found a hand clamped over her mouth and she opened her eyes to look at Lucifer in confusion. Surely, he wasn’t telling her not to talk to her best friend anymore. 

Lucifer looked at her with a look of unbridled amusement. “Far be it for me to be the practical one, but perhaps getting out of bed and getting some clothes on before calling my sister might be prudent?”

Ella blushed brightly. “Right. Yeah.” 

Lucifer laughed loudly, earning him a smack in the arm. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not particularly shy, as you should probably know. If she comes in unannounced she deserves any show she gets. Maybe not calling her directly into one though,” he teased, laughing more when his pants smacked him in the face. He knew that she wasn’t actually upset about his teasing and it was all in fun, otherwise he would have backed off. Her reactions were just too cute. He pulled himself out of bed and got dressed, heading back to the living room with her. 

Once they were both dressed and he was sitting, she draped herself sideways across his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Making a statement, darling?” he grinned. 

“Yep,” she said smugly before her insecurity hit her. “Unless you’d rather not…”

Lucifer just hugged her to him and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “There’s no statement I’d rather make, love.” 

Ella relaxed happily at that before opening her mouth and calling for Rae-Rae. She had promised to always come when Ella called. “Hey Ella…” Azrael said as she appeared before stopping as she noticed the other person in the room. “Hey Lu,” she finished sheepishly, knowing that her secrets were out to both of them. 

Despite being angry at her friend, she couldn’t help the twitch of a smile at the nickname. Now she knew why he was so accepting of being called Lu. “How could you abandon your brother like that? When he needed you the most?” she accused. 

Lucifer chuckled and held up his hands as a gesture of innocence and Azrael sighed. “I was busy…” she tried weakly. 

“And yet you found all that time to spend with me?” Ella asked pointedly. 

“Look, I messed up. I know that. But that’s why I sent you to be with him. So neither of my favorite people would have to be alone anymore,” she tried to defend herself. 

“That doesn’t make it okay,” Ella said, trying to wrap her head around the fact that Rae-Rae had sent her to Lucifer intentionally and the fact that they were her favorite people. “But if Lucifer forgives you, then I will too. I just had to make sure you knew that it’s not okay. Neither is lying to me for so long.”

Azrael shrugged. “I thought it would be better that way.” 

“And if I had known you were an angel from the start, then maybe I would have believed Lu when he told me who he was at the beginning. He wouldn’t have had to stress over my possible reaction and we could have been together a long time ago,” Ella pointed out. 

“Or you would have just assumed you were crazy like you did when you thought I was a ghost and put it all out of your mind,” Azrael countered.

Ella couldn’t exactly argue with that, but wasn’t quite ready to completely concede yet. “But I never got that option did I?” 

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Azrael finally agreed. Her wording it like that brought to mind what she had told Lucifer about not giving her a choice and withholding information. She hadn’t intended it that way, but she had still done the same thing. “But we’re all in the open now, so that’s good right?” she asked hopefully. 

Ella huffed but got up to hug her. “Yeah. That’s good.”

Azrael hugged her back in relief. “Does this mean I can start coming around again?” 

“Only if you make an effort not to be around when there are other people so I don’t end up looking crazy again,” she laughed and Azrael nodded happily. Ella returned to her spot on Lucifer’s lap, cuddling into him when he immediately hugged her to him. “So if you’ve got a little time to hang out, we’ve been doing a little q and a about heaven and hell and we can all do some catching up.” 

Azrael ended up hanging out for about an hour before she had to get back to work. Her pickups were starting to pile up. Once she was gone, Lucifer nuzzled Ella’s neck. “Feel better, dearest?” 

“Yeah,” Ella said with a happy sigh. “It’s good to get it all out in the open. No more secrets and all.” 

Lucifer nodded and stole a kiss. “No more secrets,” he agreed. He knew that she hadn’t been talking about them, but he wanted to make sure she knew that he wasn’t keeping anything from her anymore. She didn’t know everything yet obviously, but there was nothing that he would deny her. 

“I like that I know at least a little of your family,” she admitted. “I mean, I kinda know Amenadiel, but not really.”

“I like that you do too,” Lucifer told her. “But speaking of family, have you spoken to your brother?” Ella huffed and shook her head, knowing exactly what brother he was talking about. “It’s completely up to you, but I do feel the need to point out that the entire reason I confronted him was so that you wouldn’t have to lose him.”

Ella smiled at the reminder of that day. The way he had stood up for her and went to such lengths to protect her feelings. The way she had kissed him and really started all this because she was sure that if she hadn’t figured out how he felt she wouldn’t have pushed things like that. “I know. But I figure I’ll give him a little time to unravel his illegal ties and build up some good behavior before I call him.”

Lucifer nodded. “That’s fair.” 

“Are you really watching him?” Ella asked curiously. 

“In a way,” Lucifer admitted. “I’m not following him around or anything obviously, but I am keeping tabs on him. If he ends up traveling to somewhere that a recent diamond theft has happened, I’ll know and I’ll start digging. Just in case it’s coincidence.” 

“Thank you, Lucifer,” she said sincerely, laying her head on his shoulder.


	7. Chapter 7

The next few weeks, Ella and Lucifer spent getting closer. While Ella definitely wasn’t ready to talk marriage yet, she had no problem moving in. She knew Lucifer well and knew that she could trust him. Even if they didn’t work out, he wouldn’t leave her in the cold. She did draw the line at merging their finances though even though he wouldn’t let her pay any rent or bills, but did agree to let her chip in for groceries. It had been a delicate negotiation, but they found a compromise. 

It surprised them both when Chloe came back, even more so when she suddenly seemed to be fine with him being the devil. Ella had to agree with Lucifer that something was off. She was trying, but she wasn’t quite herself. She was a little more tense and jumpy. She contented herself with the idea that Chloe was still trying to find her footing and she would get over it. At least she hoped so. She didn’t want to see how much it would hurt Lucifer if this ended up going bad. 

Chloe had been more than a little surprised to find out that Lucifer and Ella were together, and so solidly too. She knew that they hadn’t been together when she left, but now a month later they were living together. It was all the more proof that he wasn’t as good as he pretended to be. He’d probably used his power to hoodwink Ella now that his secret was out. It was more important than ever to carry out her plan, even if she had no idea how to do it now. She wasn’t sure how to get close enough with Ella in the picture. Maybe that was his plan. 

After a few failed attempts, she talked to Father Kinley who brought up the idea of bringing Ella into it and getting her help. He was sure that he could break any hold that Lucifer had over her if Chloe could get her separated from Lucifer long enough for him to get a chance. Since he would only need an hour or so, it would be easy enough. Chloe just invited Ella for dinner one night. Just the girls. Father Kinley had given Chloe a weaker sedative for Ella. One that was safe for humans and Chloe slipped it in her drink and then took her to the priest. She felt horrible for doing that to Ella, but it was for her own good. 

Father Kinley did a modified exorcism that would release any supernatural hold he had over her before they woke her up. Ella was pissed beyond belief, but she knew that if she wanted any information, she would have to play it cool. While she trusted Chloe as much as she could after being drugged and taken somewhere against her will, she didn’t know or trust this other guy a bit, even with his priest’s collar. For all she knew, throwing a fit could get her hurt. It was this thinking that led Ella to forcing back her anger to ask, “What happened?” 

Chloe took the lead and helped her to a seat. “I’m sorry, Ella. Really. But I’m gonna need you to trust me right now.”

“With what?” she asked suspiciously. 

“We need your help,” Chloe told her. “Lucifer isn’t who you think he is.” 

Ella wanted nothing more than to completely lose it on Chloe, but she needed more information first. “What do you need me to do?” 

That was the priest’s clue to jump in and pull out the devil strength sedative. “We need you to help Ms. Decker slip this into his drink. This will render him unconscious so that I return him to where he belongs.”

That was the last straw for Ella. “You want to send him back to hell?! You want to basically kill him?!” she snapped, getting up from her chair. 

“You know?” Chloe asked worriedly before turning to Father Kinley. “I thought you said that she was free from his influence.”

“Of course I know,” Ella said heatedly. “You really think he would let me get in so deep without knowing what I was getting into?” She turned to the priest and said, “And of course I’m free from his influence because he’s never tried to influence me that way.” 

“Then how can you know what he is and still…” Chloe asked surprised. 

“Still love him? Maybe because he deserves it? Anyone who’s ever met him knows that he’s not evil, and so should you, Chloe. Yes, he’s the devil, but he’s also an angel in case you’ve both forgotten.” 

“He /used/ to be an angel, Ms. Lopez. He was cast out…” Father Kinley tried to reason. 

“Bullshit. You don’t know anything about it,” she yelled at them. “You sit here plotting murder and pretending you’re doing God’s work but did you ever think of the fact that if God wanted him back in hell he could put him there himself?” 

“He leaves such things up to us, Ms. Lopez. This world is ours to protect and he’s a threat to all of us,” Kinley explained, even while Chloe was starting to doubt. 

“Okay that’s enough of this shit. RAE-RAE!” she called. 

“What’s wrong Ella?” the angel of death asked as she appeared. 

“Oh thank goodness you’re here,” Ella breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that she was safe now. She wasn’t about to call Lucifer into the clutches of these people, but Rae-Rae wouldn’t let anything happen to her. 

“Who’s here, Ms. Lopez?” the priest asked, wondering if she was crazy and completely missing the irony of that thought. 

“I need you to make yourself visible to them so you can tell them they’re being stupid,” she told the angel. 

“Appearing before humans is a big no-no…”

“They’re trying to kill Lucifer and send him back to hell to ‘save the world’,” Ella told her. 

“They’re WHAT?!” Azrael said as she simmered to existence for the other two people in the room, wings spreading wide behind her. “How dare you?” she asked in full angel of death mode. 

“Wh-who are you?” Chloe asked fearfully. 

“I am Azrael. Lucifer’s sister,” she said with a glare. 

“There were angels that fell along with him. Who sided with him during the rebellion,” the priest told both Chloe and Ella. 

“No there weren’t,” Azrael snapped. “When the rebellion failed, Lucifer willingly took the full brunt of the punishment to save the others. He said it was his duty as the leader. Lucifer was the only one who fell.”

“Lies,” the priest said shakily, backing up. 

“One moment. I’ll fetch someone you might believe a little more,” she said before turning to Ella. “I’ll be right back.” 

She returned a moment later with Amenadiel in tow who looked disappointedly at Chloe. As soon as he appeared Chloe remembered that Amenadiel was his brother, which meant that he was an angel. “How could you do this?” he asked her disappointedly. 

“He’s the devil,” she protested weakly. “He’s supposed to be in hell.”

“Perhaps he was once, and I will admit that I’m the one who was to keep sending him back there when he escaped, but things changed this time. He’s changed. Even Father recognizes that, and you of all people should know better.” 

“G-God doesn’t want him back in hell?” Chloe asked in shock. 

“Of course not. If he did then he would be there,” Amenadiel snapped. “Father doesn’t leave humans to clean up celestial messes. We’re not even supposed to have any contact with humanity which is why Lucifer doesn’t go around showing himself to everyone he meets.”

“So he’s still not supposed to be here,” Kinley latched onto anything he could. 

“No. And neither are Azrael or I, but we are. It may be frowned upon to interact with humans, but as long as we can do so responsibly we still have our own free will. And if you think that Father will look kindly on humans killing /any/ of his children, even Lucifer, you’re very wrong,” Amenadiel said sternly, staring down the priest as intimidatingly as he could, which worked very well, especially since his wings were splayed behind him as he did. 

While Amenadiel was berating them, Azrael was comforting Ella who happened to be feeling the betrayal of her friend deeply. Not as deeply as Lucifer would though. “I-I thought I was doing the right thing,” Chloe protested. 

“When the right thing is betraying your friends, people who trust you and count on you, how right can that be?” Ella snapped. 

“You /will/ leave Lucifer alone,” Amenadiel ordered and only when both Chloe and Kinley nodded their heads did he turn away towards Ella. “I’m sorry for this Ella,” Amenadiel told her. “And I’m sorry we haven’t gotten a chance to spend more time together. Lucifer made a good choice with you.” 

Ella smiled and hugged him. “Thanks Mendy,” she said with a smirk. She’d spent a long time trying to think up an embarrassing nickname for him as a sly payback for calling Lucifer Luci. 

Amenadiel blinked at the nickname for a moment before he laughed and hugged her back. “You probably shouldn’t tell Lucifer about all this. It would break him,” he said more seriously as they stepped apart. 

Ella sighed. “I know. But he has a right to know and I won’t hide something like this from him. I’ll just have to trust that we can get him through this. 

“Please, Ella. I-I made a mistake…I was just scared and…”

“You don’t talk to me,” Ella snapped at her. “I don’t care what excuses you have. You should have known better. You know him as well as anyone.”

Amenadiel nodded his approval of her words. “Even I came to realize how wrong I was about him after spending some time with him, and you’ve spent much more time with him than I have.” He turned back to Ella. “Would you like a ride home?” he held out his arms for her. 

Ella grinned at the idea of flying with an angel. She’d seen Lucifer’s wings, but never got around to asking him to take her flying. She definitely wasn’t going to say no now. “I need to get my car from the restaurant, but I’ll take a ride that far. Will you two be there when I tell Lucifer?” she asked. 

Azrael jumped into the conversation. “I think it would be better coming from just you. Tell him that we are on his side of course, but he’ll close off too much if we’re there too. I can’t speak for ‘Mendy’ here,” her lips twitched at the nickname, “but if you or he needs help, all you have to do is call.”

“The same goes for me,” Amenadiel said, trying to ignore the stupid name, but resigned to it sticking. He picked up Ella in his arms and flew her back to her car.


	8. Chapter 8

Ella spent most of her short drive home trying to think of how she was going to tell Lucifer all this. As much as she understood Rae-Rae’s point, having a little backup would have been nice. She knew that it had to be this way though. If Lucifer closed off then he would be more likely to do something rash. If she talked to him alone she would have a better chance of him talking to her about it and stopping him from going off half-cocked. She loved the man, but she had no illusions about his flaws. 

Lucifer got up when she came in and greeted her with a kiss. “How was lunch?” he asked conversationally. 

“You might want to sit down, Lu,” she said gently leading him back to the couch. 

“What happened?” he asked worriedly. 

“You know how you said that something was going on with Chloe and managed to convince you that she was just still trying to find her footing and that we should be patient?” Lucifer nodded. “Well, you were right.” 

“What happened?” he asked again a little more firmly. 

“She managed to come to the conclusion that you were bewitching me or something so she drugged me and took me off to some priest to break it.”

“Did it work?” he interrupted her to ask. 

“What?” she asked incredulously. “Why would it work? You haven’t used your power on me, have you?” she asked despite already knowing the answer. 

“Not intentionally, no, but I couldn’t rule out affecting you accidentally until now,” he said with relief. “But they didn’t hurt you did they?” he asked concerned, looking her over, but he was pretty sure that despite whatever problems the detective had with him, she would never hurt Ella. That was the only reason he didn’t completely lose it when she told him what happened. 

“No. They didn’t hurt me, but they were trying to hurt you,” she sighed. “They were…were trying to kill you and…and send you back to hell. Chloe was…was working with the priest to do it. They wanted me to help them.” 

Lucifer swallowed around the lump in his throat as pain swirled in his eyes. “But you didn’t…” he half asked only to be set on by a hailstorm of tiny fists. 

“What the hell kind of question is that, Lucifer Morningstar?!” she asked as she pummeled him, knowing that she couldn’t actually hurt him and that it would still get her message across either way. “How could you even think that I would…would…”

Lucifer pulled her into a hug to calm her down. “I’m sorry, dearest. Truly. I know you wouldn’t. It was stupid of me to even suggest it.”

“Then why would you?” she asked shakily as her eyes filled with tears. 

“My trust in people just took a rather large blow, and for a moment, a very short moment, I wondered if I could trust anyone at all, but I know better. If there is one person in all of creation I trust, it’s you,” he said sincerely. 

She looked up at him, tears still shining in her eyes as she reached a hand to his cheek, not really able to blame him for the slight flinch when she made contact. “I understand, but you /can/ trust me, Lu. I would die before I would ever hurt you.” 

“I know, love,” he kissed her gently. She might just be the only thing that would get him through this latest betrayal. “And you’re sure they didn’t hurt you? Even after you refused to help?” 

Ella shook her head. “No, I called Rae-Rae pretty quick and she laid into them before getting Amenadiel who really had them wetting themselves,” she told him with a smirk. 

“Why wouldn’t you call me?” he asked, a little hurt. She had been basically drugged and kidnapped and had called his sister instead of him. 

“They were trying to kill you, Lu. I wasn’t going to call you right to them,” she said as though it should be obvious. 

“I’m far more difficult to kill than you are, love. They wouldn’t have succeeded, but if you were hurt trying to protect me…”

Ella smiled. “I know. And if I hadn’t had another option, I would have called you just for that reason. I did have another option though and I knew that Rae-Rae wouldn’t let anything happen to me either.”

Lucifer let out a breath and nodded. It made sense. At least she hadn’t tried to go it alone. It had just dawned on him that his brother and sister had defended him when he heard the elevator again and turned to see who it was. He definitely wasn’t expecting Chloe to walk out. 

Ella got up and turned towards her. “You have a lot of nerve coming here…”

“I just…wanted to say that I…I arrested Father Kinley for setting up the murders of the drug dealers, and I…I need to explain.”

Lucifer put a hand on Ella’s arm as he got to his feet and she huffed and stepped away, letting him handle it. “Yes. Please do explain. I would love to hear how you could do this to me. To ME!” he said brokenly. 

“Because I was terrified,” she cried. “You are the /actual/ devil! Every story of good and bad from throughout history, throughout time says that /you/ are the embodiment of /evil/.”

“Stories!” he snapped. “Stories from people who’ve never even met me. We’ve worked together for years detective. We’ve been partners and friends. We’ve saved each other’s lives a dozen times. I’ve killed for you and I’ve died for you, and all it took was a few scary stories with barely a shred of fact for you to throw all that back in my face.”

“I know. I screwed up, and I’m so sorry,” she said with tears running down her cheeks. 

Lucifer gave Ella an almost imperceptible shake of his head as she started to bristle before addressing Chloe again. “Yes. You did. Didn’t you think that, after everything, I’d at least earned to right to tell my side? That you owed me that much? To at least talk to me before deciding that I was irrevocably evil and deserved to die?” 

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right, and I’m sorry. I would do anything to fix this,” she pleaded. 

Lucifer changed to his devil face and watched her look away in fright. “Could you accept me like this, detective?” he asked pointedly. 

She stammered for a moment before managing to say, “You have no idea how much I want to. I-I-I’m trying.”

“But could you,” he asked firmly. 

“I-I-I don’t know,” she said plaintively. 

“Then I have my answer,” he said as he held out a hand to Ella who came over and touched his cheek and kissed him gently. “Goodbye, detective,” Lucifer said without looking at her again as his face faded back to normal. He heard a quiet sob before she walked away. 

Once the elevator doors closed behind her, Ella asked softly, “You okay?” She got why he wanted to handle that himself, and he’d handled it as well as could be expected, but she hated how much it hurt him. 

“No,” he said shakily. He’d just lost his best friend. His partner. “But I will be,” he said, pulling her into the hug that he desperately needed right now. “As long as I have you, I will be.”

“And you’ll always have me, Lu,” she assured him. “I’m not going anywhere. Ever.” 

Despite how much he was hurting, Lucifer had never felt so blessed. He had the love of the most special woman he’d ever known and the support of two of his siblings. That was as good as life got for the devil, even if he had lost Chloe. He could get through this. He could get through anything with Ella by his side. She gave him a strength he could never have imagined. “I’m quitting the precinct,” he made a decision. 

“I understand,” she said with a nod. “I’ll miss you at work, but I don’t blame you for needing to get away.”

“You know I would never ask it of you, but if you wanted to, you could quit too. You could help me run Lux or I could get you your own lab. I know that you enjoy your work, but I want you to know that you have options as well.” 

Ella smiled and squeezed him a little tighter. “I know, and thank you, Lucifer. I’m gonna stay though. At least for now.” She really did love her work, even if the company left a lot to be desired these days. She didn’t want to leave everyone just because of one person. It wasn’t like she would have to work as closely with Chloe as Lucifer would as her partner. 

“Just be careful,” he told her. “I know she seems to be better now, but…”

“I won’t let my guard down, I promise. And I won’t hesitate to call you or Rae-Rae or Mendy if I get in trouble either,” she agreed. 

Lucifer’s lips twitched. “Mendy?” he asked as a slight chuckle escaped. 

“Well he calls you Luci. Fair’s fair.” 

Lucifer let out a full laugh at that and kissed her head. “I love you.”


	9. Chapter 9

A few weeks later, there was a case and they needed to get into a fancy car show. Ella bit her lip and said, “I can see if Lucifer will part with one of his nicer cars for the day.” She didn’t want to even bring up work to him right now, but if it would help catch a killer. 

“Why not just use the Corvette? I know he doesn’t mind other people driving that one,” Chloe pointed out. 

Ella laughed at clueless Chloe. “A place like this, a Corvette, even as well maintained as his, would be like throwing a penny at a millionaire. No, best bet would be the Aston, but even I don’t get to drive that one. The Diablo would probably work though, even if they are rather common in that world,” she thought out loud. “I’ll give him a call and see what we can work out,” she said after a minute and stepped away to make the call. When she came back, she had a scowl on her face. “He’ll meet us at the station.” 

Chloe wanted to get more information, but decided it was best not to ask Ella. She hadn’t spoken to her outside of what was necessary for work in weeks, so she just nodded and left. When they got back to the station, Lucifer was outside the front doors, leaning on a very hot looking red convertible. Ella squealed and rushed over and Chloe couldn’t help but laugh when she realized that Ella was excited over the car rather than her boyfriend. She guessed that was the aforementioned Aston. 

After Ella finished gushing over the car as she always did whenever he brought it out, which wasn’t very often, she jumped in his arms and kissed him. “You’re going to let me drive it?” she asked hopefully. 

Lucifer chuckled. “Not hardly, darling.” When Ella pouted, he sighed and said, “I’ll tell you what. This weekend we’ll take her out and I’ll let you drive it a bit.” 

She squealed again excitedly. “Really?” She bounced around happily for a minute. “Then why not today?” 

“I don’t want you anywhere near there if things go sideways. I can handle working with the detective on this one,” he told her. Ella grimaced, but nodded. 

The case went well, or so they thought, and Lucifer and Chloe had patched things up enough for him to invite her to Lux to celebrate, though they were still far from being friends again. That was when all hell broke loose and the suspect, who the police had apparently missed picking up, walked in with a bomb and a gun. Lucifer immediately stepped in front of Ella as he, not so wisely in hindsight, told the guy off for coming into his club like that. When the gunshot went off, it hadn’t even dawned on Lucifer that, since Chloe was here, he was mortal. 

When Lucifer hit the floor, bleeding out, Chloe and Ella both rushed to his side. “Lucifer!” Ella cried as she saw all the blood. “But you’re supposed to be immortal,” she said with tears in her eyes as she tried to stop the bleeding. 

“Only when the detective isn’t around,” Lucifer said weakly. When Ella turned to glare at Chloe, Lucifer reached a bloody hand to her arm. “It’s not her fault, dearest. She was born that way. It’s just because she’s a miracle.”

“I’m a what?” Chloe asked and got another glare from Ella. “Right. Not the time. So if I, say, move to the other side of the room, you’ll heal?” 

Lucifer shook his head. “Doesn’t work that way. You’d have to be at least a block away and even then it’ll take a few days. Maybe a week depending on how bad it is,” he groaned out in pain. 

“So we have to get out of this first,” Chloe said, wracking her brain for a plan. 

“Rae-Rae, we need you. Please. It’s an emergency,” Ella whispered as she leaned her forehead against Lucifer’s, trying to will him to hold on. 

“She can’t help, love,” Lucifer told her even as Azrael appeared, only visible to those who had seen her before, and Chloe gasped. 

Azrael rushed to Lucifer’s side as Ella pleaded with her, hoping against hope that Lucifer was wrong. “Please Rae-Rae. Do something.” 

“I can’t,” Azrael said looking on the verge of panic as well. “I can’t heal human wounds. Only ones caused by the divine or the damned.”

“Then can you get us out of this so we can get him to a hospital?” Chloe jumped in to ask. 

Azrael bit her lip nervously. “I would be in sooo much trouble…”

“S’kay Rae-Rae,” Lucifer croaked out, coughing up a bit of blood. “I’ll be fine. N-not worth th-the risk.”

Her nervous look turned stern. “The hell you’re not,” she said before looking up at Ella. “I’ll keep him under control, but he can’t just drop out of nowhere so you’re gonna rush him as I take him out.”

“No!” Lucifer tried to sit up before yelping in pain and falling back down. “Too risky.” 

“Give me a little credit, Lu. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her or anyone else,” Azrael told him before looking at Chloe. “You keep him under control,” she said, not wanting Lucifer’s reluctance to screw up the plan and make things worse. Finally she looked at Ella. “You ready?” 

“I’m ready,” Ella said with a nod. 

“Okay, wait for my signal,” she told her before getting up and heading over. When she was directly behind him, she nodded at Ella and grabbed both the gunman’s hands, preventing him from pulling the trigger or pushing the detonator. He struggled against her, but Ella hit him so quick that no one would have noticed. 

As soon as he was down, Chloe was on the phone telling Dan everything was under control but they needed paramedics immediately. Ella rode with Lucifer in the ambulance and once he was good to talk again, asked, “What kind of trouble will Rae-Rae be in?” 

“I don’t know. If she killed him, she’ll probably fall,” Lucifer told her. “If not…it’ll depend on whether Dad was paying attention or not and how pissed he is if he was.” 

Ella breathed a sigh of relief. She was sure they would all be fine then. She had been asked not to tell him about his father starting to come around so as not to get his hopes up or send him into a rant, and she had agreed on that one. At least for the time being. She doubted that he would punish Rae-Rae too much for saving Lucifer’s life anyway. At least she hoped not. 

Once they got to the hospital, Lucifer was rushed into surgery to remove the bullet and Ella spent the whole time pacing. She knew logically that since Chloe had promised to stay far away from the hospital that there probably wasn’t any danger, but logic didn’t always help emotions. By the time he was in a recovery room and she was allowed to see him she was a wreck. It wasn’t long before he opened his eyes and grinned at her though and all the tension flew from her body. The first thing out of her mouth, surprised her as much as it did him. “I want to get married.” 

Lucifer blinked a moment at the abruptness before he chuckled. “Do they have me on the good drugs or did you just say you wanted to marry me?” 

Ella grinned sheepishly as she said, “They probably do have you on the good drugs, but you still heard right.” 

Lucifer took her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss before he said. “Darling, I would love to marry you, but are you sure this is a decision you want to make now? Emotions are running rather high and I did just have a near-death experience.”

“I know, and yes I’m sure. I’ve been thinking about it for a while actually,” she told him. She knew they had only been together for a few months, but she had been in love with him and been his friend for years. She knew everything she needed to know to have no doubts that this was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. 

He grinned and said, “In that case, once I get out of here we can go ring shopping and I can start planning the perfect proposal.” 

She laughed and shook her head. “As long as you know that I don’t need any of that. All I need is you.” 

“I know, Ella love,” he told her, giving her hand a yank and pulling her down for a kiss. “And all I need is you.”


End file.
